It's no secret that every language has its own characteristics. A Russian-speaking person forms negation with the use of the “not” particle. But denial in English is expressed in other ways.
Of course, many people studying this foreign language are interested in additional information. What grammar rules should you follow? What does the word mean (translation) mean and when is a similar form used? How to build imperative and interrogative sentences? The answers to these questions will be interesting.
The difference between Russian and English
Of course, there is a huge difference between the two languages. This also applies to the formation of a negative form of a proposal. Here are a few key differences.
- In the Russian language one negative particle is used “not”. At the same time, in English the particle of negation not, as a rule, is supplemented by various auxiliary verbs. To construct the negative form, appropriate pronouns, adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, etc. are used.
- For a Russian-speaking person, it is normal to use a large number of negatives in the same sentence (the more there are, the brighter the negative coloring of the sentence). In English, double negation is not used (only occasionally in colloquial speech or some dialects).
- If different members of a sentence can take a negative form in Russian, then in English this form is possible only for the predicate. For example, She does not visit her grandmother every week (She does not visit her grandmother every week).
Of course, English learners face difficulties at first. Nevertheless, for normal communication, it is enough to learn only some basic schemes.
Denial in the present tense
Negation in the English language is formed using the particle not and the auxiliary verb to do. When constructing such a sentence, it is worth remembering that the auxiliary verb is put at the beginning of the sentence, and immediately the particle not follows. By the way, they are often combined in an abbreviated form: don't, doesn't (for a third person, singular).
- I don't / do not eat meat. “I don't eat meat.”
- They don't / do not go out on Sundays. “They don't leave home on Sundays.”
- She does not / doesn't know the answer. “She doesn't know the answer.”
- He doesn't / does not go to school. - He does not go to school.
- You don't / do not like to read. “You don't like to read.”
Negation in the past tense in English
As you know, in the past tense, verbs sound different. The negation in this case is formed by the particle not and the same verb to do, but already in the past tense - it sounds like did not or didn't.
- I didn't / did not hear it. “I have not heard that.”
- They didn't / did not plan to buy a car. - They did not plan to buy a car.
- He didn't / did not watch this movie. - He did not watch this movie.
- We didn't / did not go to that shop. - They did not go to this store.
Future
Negation in the English language in the future tense is formed using the modal verb will and particles not (these parts are also put at the beginning of the sentence). An abbreviated form is often applied, which does not look like it.
- I won't / will not listen to it. “I will not listen to this.”
- They won't / will not go to the store. “They won’t go to the store.”
- He won't / will not travel around India. - He will not travel to India.
- You won't / will not watch this movie. “You will not watch this movie.”
Features of constructing sentences with the verb to be
The rules for constructing negation in the English language change if the main verb of the sentence is to be. In this case, the auxiliary verb to do is not used, only the particle not is used. This rule applies to both present and past tenses, as well as to Continuous tenses.
- I am not a singer. - I'm not a singer / singer.
- She is not dangerous. “She's not dangerous.”
- I was not happy. - I was not / was happy.
- He wasn't reading that. “He didn't read that.”
If we are talking about the future tense, then the particle not is placed after the modal verb will, and not after the corresponding form to be.
- I will not / won't be a student. “I will not be a student.”
Perfect times
As you know, perfect tenses are formed due to the inclusion in the sentence of the auxiliary verb to have (or had, if we are talking about the past tense). The negation in English in this case is formed by adding the particle not or by merging it with the verb have, for example, haven't, hadn't, hasn't.
- He hasn't read that yet. “He hasn't read it yet.”
- I haven't watched that movie. - I did not watch this movie.
- She hasn't call him. “She didn't call him.”
- We hadn't eaten when he came. - We haven't eaten when he arrived.
It is worth noting that this rule only applies if have is an auxiliary verb.
- I haven't listen to it yet. - I haven't listened to this yet.
- I don't have a computer. - I do not have a computer.
Is double negation permissible?
We are used to the fact that in one sentence there can be several negative particles. But in English, double negation is not used, in a sentence there can be no more than one element with a negative value.
- Nobody will tell anyone anything. “No one will tell anyone.”
In this sentence, you can see that one word nobody with a negative value is enough to make the sentence negative.
It is worth saying that sometimes double negation is still used.
- We don't want to go nowhere. “We don't want to go anywhere.”
Nevertheless, such a construction is possible only in informal speech. Only the sentence We don’t want to go anywhere is correct.
In order to build a correct negative sentence, the second (and all subsequent) negative words are replaced by positive ones by value:
- nowhere - anywhere;
- nothing - anything;
- nobody - anybody.
Interrogative and imperative sentences
If you need to ask a question, then for negation it is worth using the particle not (more often in abbreviated form –n't), as well as the auxiliary verb to do, which is put at the beginning of the sentence.
- Don't you have a pencil? “Don't you have a pencil?”
The imperative mood is formed using the same particle and the auxiliary verb.
- Don't make noise! - Do not make noise!
- Don't touch it! - Do not touch it!
Particle negation no
The negative form in English can be formed using the pronoun no.
- He wants no more candies. “He doesn't want any more candy.”
It should be noted that most often this pronoun is in constructions with to have and there is / are.
- She has no money. “She has no money.”
- There are no kids around. - There are no children nearby.
Other methods of forming a negative form
There are other ways to formulate such sentences. For example, the negative adverb never is often used, as well as nowhere.
- She will never do that. “She will never do that.”
Negative pronouns are often used , in particular, nothing and nobody.
- Nobody can give an answer. - No one can answer.
- I have nothing to lose. - I have nothing to lose.
An interesting and widely used is the integral union nor / neither (the translation sounds like "neither ... nor").
- Neither she nor her husband answered the question. - Neither she nor her husband answered the question.
Negation can also be expressed using the pretext without.
- He entered the house without saying hello. - He entered the house without saying hello.
Quite often, special consoles are used, in particular, in and un.
- He was incapable of doing this work. - He was not able to do the job.
- I am unable to deal with that situation. - I am not able to cope with that situation.
Some and already are not used for negation
It is worth knowing that words such as some and any are not used to create negative sentences. In this case, it is better to replace them with others:
- some - any;
- already - yet;
- something - anything;
- someone - anyone;
- somebody - anybody.
This rule can be studied better with examples.
- I see some apples on the ground. - I see some apples on the floor.
- I don't see any apples on the table. - I do not see any apples on the table.
- I bought something special for you. - I bought / bought something special for you.
- I didn't buy anything special. - I did not buy / bought anything special.
- We have already choosen a gift on your birthday. “We have already chosen a present for your birthday.”
- We haven't choosen a girt for you yet. - We have not chosen a gift.
English is very diverse. There are many ways to make a negative sentence, and not all are listed above. But this knowledge will be quite enough for you to communicate freely with native speakers.